Search Results (2,846)

In the coordinated management of air pollutants and carbon emissions, governments impose differentiated regulatory requirements on gases, while mitigation technologies have heterogeneous abatement potential. However, existing studies on emission quota management, an important mitigation instrument, focus on single gases and neglect integrating multigas policy preferences and heterogeneous abatement potentials, weakening policy responsiveness and scheme feasibility. This study develops a two-stage allocation framework. First, policy preference weights are introduced to evaluate multigas synergistic emission reduction potential and determine maximum quota reduction constraints for each gas. Second, policy preference weights and a non-radial directional distance function (NDDF) are embedded in a zero-sum gains data envelopment analysis (ZSG-DEA) model to capture multigas heterogeneity in policy preferences and reduction constraints, improving applicability and feasibility. Applied to the coal-fired power sector, the results show that, relative to the equal weight scenario, CO₂ incentive intensity rises by 22% under a carbon priority scenario and SO₂ incentive intensity increases by 13% under a pollution priority scenario, while the maximum quota reduction ratios of CO₂ and SO₂ are constrained from 41.75% to 9.18% and from 78.57% to 37.28%, respectively, ensuring alignment with policy preferences and keeping abatement within feasible ranges to support carbon neutrality and pollution control targets, thereby contributing to sustainable development. Full article

Background and objectives: Research into clinicians’ and pharmacists’ experiences and perspectives on direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle Eastern area is limited. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the perspectives and experiences of physicians and pharmacists practicing in Saudi Arabia who prescribe DOACs and dispense DOAC therapy, respectively. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken utilizing an online survey instrument. We collected data via Google Forms. Between June and July 2024, the study questionnaire was distributed to community pharmacists, general practitioners [GPs], cardiologists, residents in internal medicine, and hospital pharmacists (primary and secondary healthcare professionals) working in Saudi Arabia. Results: Comprising 146 doctors and 167 pharmacists, 313 total healthcare professionals participated in the study. Of the weekly DOAC prescriptions, cardiologists had the most at 35%; internal medicine residents came next at 16.3% and general practitioners at 17.5%. Among pharmacists, 16.7% of community pharmacists and 23.9% of hospital pharmacists dispensed DOACs weekly. The most often prescribed and dispensed medications were rivaroxaban, edoxaban, and apixaban. Across all categories, Lexicomp was the most often used tool. Most physicians (98%) said they lowered the DOAC dose when necessary. Especially in dosing, preoperative care, patient education, and medication interaction identification, internal medicine residents and hospital pharmacists expressed more confidence in managing DOACs. In these domains, community pharmacists expressed less trust. Conclusions: This study revealed that most participants preferred newer oral anticoagulants over warfarin and demonstrated a fairly good level of self-perceived knowledge regarding various aspects of the clinical use of DOACs. The study findings highlight the importance of focused training initiatives to standardize the use of DOACs, boost trust among community pharmacists and GPs, and ensure safe and effective patient care. Full article

Wine represents one of the most complex food matrices from a sensory perspective, as its appreciation emerges from the interaction between chemical composition, perceptual mechanisms, and contextual influences. Contemporary research in oenology and sensory science increasingly recognizes wine evaluation as an integrated perceptual event shaped by cognition, memory, and affect, rather than a simple response to aroma or flavor cues. Live music is widely used in hospitality settings to enhance consumer experience; however, its specific influence on wine appreciation and emotional responses remains insufficiently explored, particularly in real-world contexts. This study investigates how two contrasting musical atmospheres—melancholic/relaxing and upbeat/motivational—modulate hedonic evaluations and emotional profiles during public wine tastings, compared with a no-music condition. Data were collected across five live tasting events (5 Wednesdays of Emotions) using structured questionnaires that included hedonic ratings and multidimensional emotional measures. Statistical analyses were conducted using non-parametric tests, meta-analytic p-value combination, and cumulative link mixed models for ordinal data. The presence of music significantly enhanced overall wine appreciation compared to the silent condition, although the magnitude and direction of the effect varied across individuals and musical styles. Upbeat/motivational music generally produced stronger and more consistent increases in liking than melancholic/relaxing music. Emotional responses—particularly positive surprise—emerged as key mediators of hedonic improvement and showed strong associations with overall liking. Preference profiling revealed distinct response patterns, indicating that auditory modulation of wine perception is not uniform across consumers. These findings support a crossmodal interpretation in which music shapes wine appreciation primarily through emotion-based and expectancy-related mechanisms rather than through direct sensory enhancement. By demonstrating these effects in ecologically valid tasting environments, the study highlights the role of auditory context as a meaningful component of multisensory wine experiences. Full article

This paper investigates travellers’ intentions, with regard to preferences for a green and/or ethical hotel, boycotting hotels accused of extreme environmental damages or over-exploitation of workers, and sharing relevant information on social media. Questioning the claim that intentions to prefer a green hotel are based mainly or even solely on practical criteria, this study focuses on examining the influencing power of values. The Values-Beliefs-Norms model was employed and modified as the New Environmental Paradigm was replaced by climate change risk perception. Personal interviews were conducted with consumers in the urban area of Thessaloniki, Greece, using a structured questionnaire for data collection. Area sampling, in combination with quota sampling, in terms of gender and age, was used. Results provided that egoistic and altruistic values were excluded from the final structural model, and just biospheric values indicated a statistically significant positive relationship with Risk Perception. The other hypothesised consecutive relationships between Biospheric Values (BV), Risk Perception (RP), Awareness of Consequences (AC), Ascription of Responsibility (AR), Personal Norms (PN) and Intentions (Int) were found to be statistically significant and positive. Overall, 80.9% of the variance in Intentions was explained, while Personal Norms indicated the stronger impact on Intentions among all other relationships in the chain. Eventually, theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research directions, are suggested. Full article

Background: Radon exposure has been recognised as a risk factor for developing lung cancer and other health issues. The mutagenic changes associated with long-term radon exposure take 10–30 years to manifest, which may lead to a lower observed incidence of lung cancer in children. Children are more vulnerable to radon exposure and its effects due to their smaller lung capacity and faster breathing rates, resulting in greater radon inhalation. Objective: The aim of the study is to present current evidence on the association between radon exposure and health effects among children. Methodology: We conducted a systematic review of the available literature on radon exposure and its health impacts, focusing on children. A preliminary literature scoping was conducted in CINAHL, PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect. Some of the search terms included: “children” OR “health” OR “implications” OR “radon” OR “exposure”. Subsequently, a comprehensive search was conducted, covering quantitative studies in EBSCOhost across all selected databases. The review adhered to the 27-item PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist. The quality of the evidence gathered was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) tool. The study was registered with PROSPERO under the ID: CRD420251269394. The review analysed 26 studies, all published between 1994 and 2025. Results: The incidence of lung cancer was projected to increase with childhood radon exposure, with statistical significance (OR per radon 100 Bq/m³ = 1.16; 1.05–1.31). Certain biological markers were associated with childhood long-term radon exposure: IL-5 (13.4%; 95% CI: 0.4–2.8; p = 0.044). Conclusions: Childhood radon exposure, although rarely enough to cause overt malignancy, contributes cumulatively to lifetime lung cancer risk and causes detectable biological markers. Full article

Background: Evidence comparing the Direct Anterior Approach (DAA) for total hip arthroplasty (THA) to other approaches is conflicting, particularly regarding patient-reported outcomes. This study aimed to compare the outcomes and preferences of the DAA and Posterolateral (PLA) and Lateral (LA) Approaches within a crossover cohort. Methods: This retrospective crossover study included 69 patients who underwent staged bilateral THA with a DAA on one hip and either a PLA (n = 29) or LA (n = 40) on the contralateral hip. At a minimum 12-month follow-up, patient-reported outcomes, including length of stay, mobilization, crutch use, functional scores (mHHS, HOOS-PS, and NRPS), and preferences, were collected via telephone survey and analyzed using a paired t-test. Results: Compared to other approaches, the DAA resulted in a significantly shorter length of stay (p < 0.001), earlier mobilization (p < 0.001), and shorter duration of crutch use (p < 0.001). At 12 months, the DAA group also reported higher modified Harris Hip Scores (p < 0.05) and lower pain scores (p < 0.05). The majority of patients preferred DAA to both PLA (60.7%) and LA (72.5%). Conclusions: In this within-patient comparison, DAA provided a significantly faster early recovery and was strongly preferred by patients. These early postoperative advantages are critical for patients, and should be prominent in the shared decision-making process for THA. Full article

High-quality synthetic text can mitigate annotation scarcity in text classification. However, standard preference optimization often produces samples that are fluent but weakly label-specific. We present Utility-weighted Direct Preference Optimization (U-DPO), a preference-optimization framework for class-conditional synthetic data generation. In U-DPO, a task-specific classifier provides a margin-based external score for each candidate generation, which is combined with an embedding-based internal similarity score to form an overall utility. These utilities are used (i) to mine preference pairs from multiple candidates per class and (ii) to weigh each DPO update by the utility gap between preferred and dispreferred samples. This design encourages the generator to concentrate on learning informative, label-discriminative preference comparisons rather than treating all pairs equally. Across two multiclass scientific-abstract benchmarks (arXiv and WOS-11967), U-DPO consistently improves downstream SciBERT classification accuracy compared with both vanilla synthetic generation and standard DPO fine-tuning, with gains up to 0.88 percentage points on arXiv and 0.83 percentage points on WOS-11967 depending on the generator. An additional GPT-4.5-based evaluation also indicates a higher mean quality score for U-DPO samples with reduced variance. Full article

This paper introduces a novel methodology that integrates 6G wireless Federated Edge Learning (FEEL) frameworks with MAC to PHY cross layer optimization strategies. In the context of mobile edge computing, typically ensuring robust channel estimation within the 6G network use cases presents critical challenges, particularly in managing data retransmissions. Inaccurate updates from distributed 6G devices can undermine the reliability of federated learning, affecting its overall performance. To address this, rather than relying on direct evaluations of the objective function, we propose an AI/ML-assisted algorithm for global optimization based on radial basis functions (RBFs) decision-making process to assess learned preference options. Full article

Ensuring that Large Language Models align with human values of honesty is a critical challenge, particularly due to the scarcity of labeled data for distinguishing known versus unknown knowledge boundaries. We propose a weak-to-strong generalization framework utilizing Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO). Unlike standard supervised fine-tuning or prompt engineering, our framework trains a lightweight “honest head” to rank response candidates based on multifaceted honesty scores. Crucially, we employ GRPO to optimize this head, leveraging group-relative advantages and PPO-style clipping to robustly learn from noisy, relative honesty signals. The weak honest head then guides the self-labeling of unlabeled data to fine-tune strong LLMs. Experiments on PopQA, SQuAD, Non-AmbigQA, and a domain-specific military medical dataset demonstrate that our framework significantly outperforms strong baselines, including Direct Preference Optimization (DPO), in honesty alignment. Full article

Insect infestation poses a significant threat to global agriculture by impairing plant growth and reducing crop yields. The western flower thrip (WFT) causes substantial damage through both direct feeding and transmission of plant viruses. Although the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway is known to participate in plant defense against WFTs, the underlying molecular mechanisms in non-model crops such as peppers, remain largely elusive. This study investigates the role of suppressor of prosystemin-mediated responses2 (Spr2) within JA-mediated defense against WFTs in pepper. Through an integrated approach employing virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), transcription analysis, phytohormone quantification, insect behavior assays and life history investigations, we demonstrated that silencing CaSpr2 significantly reduced JA and JA-Ile accumulation, and led to a strong feeding preference of WFTs for CaSpr2-silenced plants. Furthermore, the adult lifespan, survival rate, female fecundity, oviposition rate, and population parameters of WFTs were significantly improved on CaSpr2-silenced plants. Spr2 functions as an essential component within the JA signaling pathway, thereby playing a critical role in conferring resistance to WFTs in cultivated pepper. These findings provide profound insights and practical implications for breeding thrips-resistant cultivars in non-model plants, through genetic manipulation of JA signaling, offering a promising avenue for sustainable agricultural pest management. Full article

Optimizing stirring methods is crucial for enhancing the efficiency of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) production process. This study explores the mixing characteristics of a 150-ton Consteel EAF. The similarity ratio between the water model and the prototype is 1:8. The average mixing time (AMT) was employed as the criterion to evaluate various stirring methods, including the horizontal deflection angle of side-blowing, non-uniform bottom-blowing layouts, and their combinations. A new ice whose composition was a 35 wt% sugar solution was used to simulate the movement and bonding of scrap steel. The melting and temperature difference were compared in this way. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The side blowing lances with a certain angle of horizontal deflection are more conducive to the mixing of the molten pool. The preferred side-blowing lances’ horizontal deflection angle is 10°. (2) The preferred bottom blowing layout is EKO. The bottom blowing layout needs to pay attention to the offset between the bottom blowing nozzles. Bottom blowing nozzles cannot be too far or too close. Rational non-uniform layout of bottom blowing is better than uniform. (3) The preferred combined stirring layout is the EKN, combined with side blowing, with counterclockwise deflection of 10° in the horizontal direction. Gas injection of side blowing and bottom blowing exhibits complementary action zones, thereby achieving enhanced stirring uniformity in the molten bath. But it is necessary to consider the bottom-blowing and side-blowing positions to avoid the local kinetic energy loss caused by airflow offset. At the same time, the deflection angle of the side-blowing lances should be consistent with the direction of the circulation formed by the non-uniform bottom blowing. (4) Under the rational combined stirring method, the scrap steel moved faster, and the bonding phenomenon was significantly reduced. And the temperature difference decreased the fastest. In summary, the rational combined stirring method is the most preferred method for mixing. Full article

This study investigates the challenge of affordable housing in Riyadh, a city undergoing rapid transformation aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. It aims to bridge the structural gap in the housing market by developing a comprehensive analytical framework that measures housing suitability for emerging middle-income families, linking it to economic, spatial, and behavioral dimensions. The research employs a sequential mixed-methods design. The first phase involved a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) of 106 residential neighborhoods, constructing a Housing Suitability Index (HSI) based on financing cost (≤SAR 880,000), quality of urban life, and geographical accessibility. The second phase utilized focus groups with 16 participants from real estate developers and new families to explore behavioral drivers and subjective trade-offs. Quantitative results identified “convenience clusters” primarily in the city’s southeastern and southwestern sectors, offering an optimal balance between price and accessibility. Qualitative analysis revealed a significant trust gap and a misalignment of priorities: new families are increasingly willing to sacrifice unit size for central location and construction quality, a preference that conflicts with developers’ strategies focused on luxury units or peripheral projects for higher margins. The study concludes that achieving the 70% homeownership target requires a hybrid policy model, combining supply-side stimuli (e.g., subsidized land) with demand-side management (e.g., progressive mortgages). It recommends integrating the HSI into urban planning to direct investment towards logistically connected areas, fostering sustainable communities. Full article

Mylonitic mantle peridotites exposed at the Tosa Megamullion in the Shikoku Basin, Philippine Sea, provide direct evidence for amagmatic ductile shear deformation of the upper mantle beneath a back-arc spreading center. Oceanic core complexes (OCCs), or megamullions, are dome-shaped structures formed by detachment faulting and occur locally along slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins, where they expose fault rocks derived from ductile shear zones in the lower crust and upper mantle. The Shikoku Basin hosts several OCCs, including the Tosa Megamullion, which formed during the early stage of back-arc spreading. In this study, nine ultramafic rocks were collected from the Tosa Megamullion using the submersible Shinkai6500 during cruise YK23-05S. Although all samples were highly serpentinized, several preserved primary peridotitic textures were composed mainly of olivine, orthopyroxene, with subordinate clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and spinel. Seven samples exhibit well-developed foliation and porphyroclastic textures dominated by orthopyroxene porphyroclasts, ranging from rounded to strongly elongated forms, commonly showing microkinks and undulose extinction. Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of three representative samples, analyzed using SEM-EBSD, reveal E-type-dominant olivine fabrics characterized by the (001)[¹⁰⁰] slip system, with a subordinate contribution from C-type (100)[⁰⁰¹] slip. These CPOs suggest deformation under non-dry conditions involving moderate hydration and/or elevated differential stress. These results indicate that the ultramafic rocks from the Tosa Megamullion represent mantle-derived mylonitic peridotites formed by ductile shear beneath the spreading axis and subsequently exhumed under strongly magma-poor, amagmatic conditions. The Tosa Megamullion thus represents an amagmatic end-member of the OCC formation in back-arc basins, dominated by tectonic strain localization rather than by magmatic accretion. Full article

Mapping individual-tree crowns (ITCs) along with extracting tree morphological attributes provides the core parameters required for estimating thermal stress and carbon emission functions. However, calculating morphological attributes relies on the prior delineation of ITCs. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework, this review synthesizes how deep-learning (DL)-based methods enable the conversion of crown geometry into reliable biometric parameter extraction (BPE) from high-resolution imagery. This addresses a gap often overlooked in studies focused solely on detection by providing a direct link to forest inventory metrics. Our review showed that instance segmentation dominates (approximately 46% of studies), producing the most accurate pixel-level masks for BPE, while RGB imagery is most common (73%), often integrated with canopy-height models (CHM) to enhance accuracy. New architectural approaches, such as StarDist, outperform Mask R-CNN by 6% in dense canopies. However, performance differs with crown overlap, occlusion, species diversity, and the poor transferability of allometric equations. Future work could prioritize multisensor data fusion, develop end-to-end biomass modeling to minimize allometric dependence, develop open datasets to address model generalizability, and enhance and test models like StarDist for higher accuracy in dense forests. Full article

The identification and monitoring of pavement pathologies are critical for maintaining road infrastructure and ensuring transportation safety. As traditional inspection methods are often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human error, in recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as a promising tool for pavement condition assessment due to their mobility, efficiency, and ability to capture high-resolution imagery and multi-sensor data. This Systematic Literature Review aims to synthesize and evaluate existing research on the use of UAV for identifying pavement pathologies, such as cracks, potholes, rutting, and surface degradation. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodology, publications were screened and selected across major academic databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 361 relevant articles published from 2020 to July 2025 were identified and analyzed using bibliometric overview. And a full-text synthesis and qualitative analysis was performed on a subset of 108 studies, which met the quality assessment criteria. The review categorizes the UAV systems, computer vision approaches, pathology types, and pavement materials examined in the studies. The findings indicate a growing trend in the use of UAV and computer vision techniques for pavement pathology detection, along with evolving preferences for UAV platforms, analytical approaches, and targeted pathology categories over time. This review highlights current gaps and outlines future research directions to advance UAV-based pavement pathology identification as a viable and reliable alternative to conventional inspection methods. Full article